“Speeding has always been an issue,” says Joe Draper, City of Mesa Traffic Studies Analyst and Las Sendas resident. In a study conducted by the City of Mesa earlier this year, one in three drivers on Eagle Crest was driving more than five miles per hour over posted speed limits, with similar results found on Ridgecrest and Red Mountain.
In such an active community with walkers, runners, and bikers — not to mention our landscaping crews — there’s a lot of activity on and near our roads. Everyone must follow posted speed limit signage to prevent accidents and keep our community safe.
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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that “For more than two decades, speeding has been involved in approximately one-third of all motor vehicle fatalities.” Speeding becomes increasingly dangerous when there’s bad weather, road work, or limited nighttime visibility.
Pedestrians and bikers also need to follow all road rules for their safety and the safety of others. This includes not walking or running on the roads. The City of Mesa Code of Ordinances requires pedestrians to stay off streets wherever sidewalks are available unless they are in a crosswalk (Reso. 990, 1771).
Unfortunately, we cannot install speed humps on collector roads, such as Ridgecrest, Eagle Crest, and Red Mountain due to the City of Mesa’s requirements and regulations. That being said, the City included Las Sendas collector roads as part of a more extensive study to potentially modify the shape of medians to encourage speed limit adherence. Additionally, requests for more Police Department presence (patrols and speed radars) within our community have been made to combat speeding.
Adding stop signs on our roads has also been suggested. After speaking further with the City of Mesa Transportation Department, we have found that stop signs are only recommended for right-of-way passages and not for speeding. Traffic studies performed by the City tell that unwarranted stop signs have a high violation rate, increase speeds between stop signs, and give pedestrians a false sense of security. With all this data, the City of Mesa will not consider additional stop signs on our public streets.
Most importantly, as Las Sendas residents, each of us can contribute to safe roads and neighborhoods by following posted speed limits and watching out for our neighbors.
